Clinging to Hope
by Ryalo
Summary: After being the victim of yet another violent beating for something he can't control, Naruto awakes in a hospital. Someone saved him, and just so happens to turn his life upside down. Rated for violence and language. On hiatus
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: Ok, this is my first fanfiction so don't go too hard on me. I'll try and update at least once a month. Please tell me about any spelling or grammar errors. Suggestions are always welcome, but please don't flame.

"_Biju speaking"_

_**"Biju thoughts"**_

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You can never tell what will come to pass. You can never prevent things that must happen. But yet the entire time, humans find things to cling to. A way to hold on, to have hope. Revenge, recognition, fate, even another. For each person it's different, even if just slightly. The only thing left was to stop at nothing to achieve it. To become obsessed with the one thing left they had left.

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They were at it again. He saw it, but mind and body were numb to the fact that he was being beaten bloody. They hated him, beat him even though he was only five. Of course, it was always at night in some hidden corner of the city. The hate that radiated from them told him that they wouldn't stop until someone intervened. And that was a slight chance at best. The pain that would make others scream, only made salty tears pour down his face silently. He wouldn't show anything other sign of pain, else they would only laugh and beat him more. Deep blue orbs stared blankly into the darkness, body shivering. There was a shout, then a rush of feet as his tormentors fled. "My god..." someone, the one who had saved him, murmured. Pity seeped from the humans being, rage mixed in. Naruto faintly felt someone pick him up, warmth spreading through his body before darkness consumed him.

When he opened his eyes again, the small boy was in a dark place with pipes all over. Water surrounded him, but his clothes were dry. He stood slowly, astonished at his new surroundings. Cautiously, Naruto took a step forward, suddenly in front of a gate. Perhaps gate was the wrong word. This was a huge metal door, like the ones that you would see in a prison with a piece of paper stuck on it. Eyes wide, the boy gaped at the prison gate. Two red eyes appeared out the darkness, startling him enough to make him fall onto his backside. A vicious chuckle came from the other side of the gate and large fangs also appeared. "W-ho, what are you?" Naruto squeaked, shaking in fear. This was far worse than the villagers, the hate, the rage, the thirst for blood. It was overwhelming, and he wished he could run, run far away from here.

_"Come on Kit, I know you're smarter than this." _the thing said, it's deep voice reminding Naruto too much like a growl for his liking. What was worse was that the owner of the voice had stepped into the light, revealing an enormous red-orange kitsune. Nine tails whipped behind the kitsune, not making a sound. His entire being screamed at him to run, but Naruto could do nothing of the sort.

"K-Kyuubi!" Naruto whimpered, scrambling away from the cage. He didn't get far before freezing up again. The kitsune sighed, a very intimidating sound to anyone since it sounded like a low growl.

_"Ok Kit, right now I would really like to tear you up," _Naruto paled immediately, _"But because of this accursed seal, I can't. In case you haven't figure it out yet, I'm trapped in you. And you're in your mind."_ Finally, he understood. It all made sense now. The whispers, the glares, the beatings. He was called a demon because he was one. _"Wrong Kit. You just have one in you." _At this, Naruto yelped, his hands going to his head. How did this Furball hear what he thought? _"Haven't you been listening? I'm in your mind, we're both in your mind right now." _None of this made much sense. _"Fine, I'm going to try and keep this simple. If you die, I die too so I'm going to help you out so you don't die. Now get out of here!" _Kyuubi no Kitsune finished with a snarl. Once more, everything went black for Naruto with the kitsune's final words echoing through his mind scape. _"I must be going soft..."_


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Yay! Thank you for the reviews. Just to let you know, this is not going to be a AnkoxNaruto fanfic. I think that would just be strange, considering the fact that she's like 17 and he's a little older than five in this fic. Later on, when Naruto grows up some, I'll figure out the pairing. I might have a poll. Sorry about how short the first chapter was, I'm trying to make them longer.

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His eyes remained closed for the longest time, afraid of what was waiting him on the other side of his eyelids. It might be another scary demon, or something. Better to keep his eyes closed and listen first. The first thing he noticed was soft. It must be a bed, though he had no notion of why he would be on a nice soft bed. There was someone next to him, someone that seemed friendly since he wasn't dead yet. The curiosity became too much, and Naruto opened one eye a crack. White flooded his vision. What was with all the white? And why did it have to be so bright... He dared to open his eyes again, blinking against the bright white. A muffled sigh of relief came from the side of his bed made Naruto jump slightly. A young woman sat next to his bed, chin resting on her upright hand. The spiky, dark purple hair drooped ever so slightly in the ponytail that held it, giving it an almost pineapple look. She looked at him with brown eyes as though analyzing him, then giving a very slight smile. Any other child would have giggled, but Naruto was not any other child. He blinked once more, wondering who the heck this lady was. "Hey kid, you're in the hospital." a voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts. He turned his head to look at the lady again, seeing that no one else was in the room. Hospital. Strange, usually they didn't let him in, let alone give him a room and heal him. "You were beat up pretty badly when I got there." she stated calmly, as though a little kid getting beaten almost to death was normal. Inwardly, Naruto shrunk away from the stranger. Her calm was unnerving, as though she didn't care. Then he thought back to earlier. When she had found him, she had pitied him and had wanted to kill the villagers that did this to him. She couldn't be all bad.

"Who are you?" he finally managed to ask, voice just above a whisper.

A wicked grin showed itself on the women's face. "Mitarashi Anko is the name. I'm a special jounin of Kohona." Anko replied cheerfully, completely contradicting her earlier attitude. Couldn't this lady just make up her mind already.

"You saved me, thank you Mitarashi-san." Naruto managed to let a small smile appear on his face, playing around the edge of his lips. With this statement, Anko's eyes flashed with rage.

"Worthless pieces of shit. How could they beat up a little kid like that?" Anko fumed, glaring daggers out the window at the village. She couldn't believe that those bakas would really think that a little kid was the Kyuubi no Kitsune. If he really was, then wouldn't they all be dead by now? Naruto was staring at her even wider eyes than before. This was one of the few people that he had met that would actually talk to him, heck she actually insulted the villagers for doing that to him. That was good, and usually she would scare him but after meeting the giant demon living in him, this was nothing. He stored the curse word away in his mind for later use, or something. "Hey kid, your name is Uzumaki Naruto, right?" another mood swing, from angry and scaring to cheerful. The blond only nodded in reply. It was about all he could do, his entire body sore though nothing seemed broken. "So why were you out there all by yourself? Don't you have someone that takes care of you, or something?" she asked, curiosity sparked.

Naruto just looked at her like she was crazy, which was exactly what he thought of her at the moment. "Nope, I live at the orphanage. Jii-san drops by sometimes to see me though. He always asks how I'm treated, and the orphanage lady glares at me." he finally replied after much thought.

Anko's eyes narrowed to slits, and you could almost see the smoke coming off of her. "Well you're staying here for now. And NO ONE had better disagree with me." she raised her voice, glaring at the door where she knew the nurses were eavesdropping. A sudden scurry of feet rushing away from the room confirmed the fact.

"Why are the nurses afraid of you?" Naruto questioned, knowing very well that the hospital staff would never allow him to stay here without Jii-san here ordering them to. It had happened all to many times.

"Well, like I said before, I'm a jounin. That's the name for an advanced shinobi." she answered brightly, now happy once more since the eavesdroppers were gone. "I'm going to go talk with Hokage-sama. Don't you dare try to leave either."

Naruto just nodded, awed in spite of himself. This lady was a shinobi, meaning she was dangerous. No wonder all of the hospital staff were afraid of her. He didn't like the fact that she was going to leave, but if she was going to Jii-san it couldn't be that bad. "Could I be a shinobi one day too?" he asked enthusiastically, trying to get up. Anko glared at him.

"Hai, but if you get up, I'll make you stay in that bed." the purple-headed girl threatened before hopping out of the window and jumping from roof to roof. Her course was set to the Hokage Tower. It was about time she had a bit of a talk with him and a few other jounin.


End file.
